


the succession of stories

by scrxbble



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Campaign 05: A Crown of Candy, Children, Gen, Post-Canon, descendants of characters, long sentences baybe, spoilers for episode 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24627829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrxbble/pseuds/scrxbble
Summary: there is a new generation in castle candy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	the succession of stories

**Author's Note:**

> this fic truly has no bearing on the story or characters but i couldn't shake the thought of children four or five generations down the line pretending to be our sweet fleet

the sounds of war ring out through castle candy. the queen does not move from her throne. the knights stay standing at attention in the halls and the courtyard, frozen along the wall. the servants do not look up from their duties as shouts echo through the halls.

it is not real, of course. there has not been war in candia for years. the children, though, are fascinated with the subject, fueled by stories of their ancestors and tapestries depicting their heroism. they tumble down the corridors, wooden swords at their sides. they are cousins, siblings, but today they are the heroes of old, six out of seven figures whose statues line the courtyard proudly. the oldest carries a sword and a wooden horn that is a smaller version of the one on his mother’s hip. the youngest is falling behind, a stick representing a crossbow in hand as he pumps six-year-old legs that cannot keep up with his companions. one of them, in makeshift robes, notices and nudges his brother. 

“sir theobald, pick up count liam! we have to escape!” the young lapin holds out one hand, pretends that his magic is what lets the little knight lift the younger onto his back.

behind them, the two girls - cousins, though they are so close in age their mothers have given up on convincing them that they are not twins - argue, both holding one end of a thin play sword. “i want to be princess jet!” one of them squeals, already looking the part with makeshift war paint across her cheeks. 

the other shakes her head firmly, thrusting an unstrung bow at the other. “i get to be jet this time! you’re ruby! you can do magic if you’re ruby!”

“i’m older, so i say you’re ruby!”

the younger concedes and lets go of the sword finally, shooting a fake arrow at the imaginary enemies behind them. “fine, let’s go!”

in front, the play king amethar stops before a junction, holds up his hand. “sir theobald, lapin, princesses, i believe we may have an ally among us.”

the ally comes in the form of an older brother, who smiles as he sees their weapons and wartime stances. even so, he does not bring good news - he shoots a glance at his younger brother and says, “at risk of disturbing the heroes of candia, mother wants to see you, pollux.”

“i’m not pollux, i’m lapin!” his brother says, costume robes that pool on the floor wrapped around him.

castor indulges. “fine, little lapin, but the lady melia wishes to hear your counsel, dear chancellor.”

the others sigh as little lapin salutes them and runs off to find his mother, sending one last magical wave at them as he runs down the corridor.

“castor, will you play with us?” one of the girls pleads, the little princess jet with her sword sheathed for once. “we need a sir cumulous.”

castor glances around and drops his voice to a whisper, conspiratorially for his young cousins. “but princess jet, of course! i simply needed to conceal my identity from whoever may be listening.”

there is a cheer, and the little theobald keeps time with castor, his favorite older cousin, now the monk of stories, leading them down the hallway and through doorways, hiding up against the wall as servants pass, giving them a wink as he indulges his younger cousins. the knights along the way pretend to be fructeran guards that do not see their stealth; the maids who pass are happy to be called dairian allies as the learned cumulous practices his history for the game.

“and then we arrive at the great stone candy mountains,” he whispers outside the throne room, “and we have an audience with the queen.”

the doors fly open as the queen glances up from her throne, smiling as her son and his younger sister arrive with their cousins behind them, their oldest cousin castor giving her a play-along grin. “ah, i see we have the great candian heroes here to see me!” she exclaims. “to what do i owe the honor?”

her son, who is not her son at this moment but is instead king amethar of days of old, kneels in front of her. “my lady, we ask for free passage through your hall to the candy fields beyond.”

“and of course you shall have it,” she replied benevolently, stroking her son’s hair. “you are, of course, the heroes of candia.”

“not yet, mama!” the little princess ruby pipes up. “right now we are on the run from the empire.”

her mother raised an eyebrow and beckoned her daughter to her, lifting her onto her lap. “someone has been paying attention in her history lessons,” she said, then glanced at her nephew who stood to the side, the closest to adult supervision they had. “or perhaps castor has been teaching you from his books?”

“he’s not castor!” protested the little knight. “he’s cumulous rocks.”

“yeah!” said the little count liam, still on theobald’s back.

“well, cumulous, i give you leave to take the heroes through my land and beyond, and i trust that the king amethar will be protected.” the queen let her daughter hop back off and join her cousin, already whispering to each other conspiratorially. “look after the princesses, too, yes?”

castor bowed to his aunt. “of course, your highness. your wish is my command.”

the queen nodded and watched as the group darted out of the room, castor letting the pretend princesses hang off his arms as they walked, squealing with glee when he lifted them up and let them swing themselves back off. the prince already walked like the king he was pretending to be, and the imaginary crossbow bolts that shot from the littlest one’s toy took down enemies ahead of them as he clung to his older brother’s back.

oh, that the real story could be so simple, thought the queen as they left, that their enemies could have been imaginary and their weapons blunted. the future had been kind to the heroes of old, had let them be honored even when they were disgraced in their own time, but even time could not erase the losses that history had written.

she glanced at the tapestry that hung behind her: a weaving of her grandmother on the throne, scepter in one hand, the crown gleaming over furrowed brows and sad eyes. there were other depictions of her grandmother throughout the castle, and a statue of her in the courtyard, but those always showed younger woman, fighting alongside her father and her sister, brave in the face of accusations and danger, and never alone. they didn’t ever show the afterwards, when she stood alone for the first time, the promises she had once made to her sister sugar-dust in the air, and her sister not by her side, but buried in a peppermint wood coffin.

perhaps, though, with the children, the story would be different. perhaps in their version, they would stand in victory, without the tragedy of their ancestors weighing them down, with not one loss. perhaps the next generation could rewrite their mistakes, learn from them, avoid the cycle of more loss. perhaps there was a chance that someday, the children of the castle would pretend to be heroes of peace.

she hopes that they will only ever face imaginary foes.

**Author's Note:**

> a few side notes: pollux is named because some sources say it means "very sweet". castor is named because that's his twin in mythology and also caster sugar so it just makes sense. yes one of the rocks sisters died no i won't decide which one.  
> if you wanted to check out more of my writing, it's all here on ao3! extended dimension 20 content can be found at my tumblr at aelwynrights.tumblr.com


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